Stories worth losing sleep over

Interview with Vedic Astrologer and Palmist Alan Annand

Alan Annand

Vedic astrology originated in India. It is also called “Jyotish” and is commonly referred to as the “mother of all astrology.” Proponents of Vedic astrology claim that it is superior to the sun sign-focused western astrology most people think of when they think of astrology. Alan Annand, a Vedic astrologer and palmist from Toronto, talked to Val Tobin about how Vedic astrology lured him away from 15 years of western astrology practice and why people can use it to guide them in making major decisions.

Moving from Western Astrology to Vedic Astrology

Val Tobin: How long have you practiced astrology?

Alan Annand: “Astrology 30 years. Fifteen years of western astrology. I was trained classically in western astrology with the British Faculty of Astrological Studies. I practiced it, so I got my diploma after eighteen hours of exams. Three years of study, eighteen hours of exams. I got my diploma in 1980, then I practiced western astrology from 1980 until about the mid-nineties.

“But, toward the end of that, in parallel, I discovered Vedic astrology, probably in 1993, and started to study it and started to work with it tentatively, then more and more seriously. By the mid-nineties, I was pretty much using it and not western astrology anymore, because I’d done so much serious reading. I [entered] into my studies in 1999 with my teacher, and then [there] was really no looking back, and I just embraced it totally. So, now it’s been fifteen years of Vedic astrology as well.”

A Future Written in the Stars

Val Tobin: With astrology, is everything written in the stars? How much is within our control?

Alan Annand: “That’s a whole talk about karma, basically, and karma comes in different varieties … Karma can be fixed or unfixed, or somewhere in between. If it’s very fixed, you can smoke all you want, and you won’t get lung cancer, because you don’t have karma for lung cancer, and we know people like that. On the other hand, if you have a karma for lung cancer, it’s just your misfortune.”

Val Tobin: So those people, such as people with a really dismal relationship chart, can they do anything to affect the outcome?

Alan Annand: “Absolutely. Absolutely. Just like someone with poor health can say, you know what? I will never smoke, I will never drink, I will never eat processed foods, I will eat only organic food, I will take care of myself, I will get eight hours of sleep every night, I will take vitamins and supplements and all of that, I’ll find a low-stress job and environment, and surround myself with love and take up religion — all of the things that you can do that are probably good for your psychosomatic and therefore your real health.

“So yes, people can and should do things, because we should not feel helpless. Just because the odds are against [you] doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to succeed despite the odds.”

Astrology and Palmistry

Val Tobin: When you also use the palm reading, does what you see in people’s hands support what you see in their charts?

Alan Annand: “This is why I love doing palmistry. It so often corroborates, you know, not on a predictive level, because I find there is only so much that you can do with palmistry, but as a touchstone for basic character, inclination for relationships, health, and career orientation. I find lots there to encourage me to keep on using it because it’s corroboration.

“Often, I’ll even point this out to clients. I’ll say, ‘You remember me saying in the first half hour of our session this and that about your hand? Now what I see in your chart is some very similar stuff.’ When I see evidence of [someone] being a writer or a teacher or whatever, in coming from two totally different paradigms, I feel very encouraged that the universe has left its mark upon [that person] and this is what it means in [his or her] life.”

Benefits of Vedic Chart Analysis

Val Tobin: What are the benefits of having a Vedic astrology chart done?

Alan Annand: “All kinds of things. I’ll tell you what I really enjoy doing: I love doing people who are still in university, who, often, like me when I was in university, don’t have a clue where they are going in life. And I love being able to advise people who are in what is still essentially a formative age because really, going to university just kind of prepares you for something, not necessarily everything or even your life’s work.

“I love doing that because I believe I can give people very clear direction and clarity about career and all these possibilities — relationships too. In fact, this is where I spend 80% of my time and I always tell my students, if you’re going to do this, and master the nuts and bolts, concentrate on relationships and career, because 80% of the time that’s why people are coming.”

Help with Mundane Issues, Big Decisions

“Similarly with health, choice of education, which is a precursor to career, things about parents — very mundane stuff, like do you think I could sell my house this year, do you think I could change careers? So there is nothing under the sun that you can’t address through astrology that is a meaningful thing for people to know. People are constantly facing decision points. Move here? Should I stay here?

“But in the end, it can be very liberating for people. Who knows what people will hear, because no one size fits all. I always answer people’s questions. Why are you coming to me at this point? Is it idle curiosity? I’ll satisfy that. I’ll just go through your chart and I’ll cover the waterfront about what I think about this, that, or the other thing.

“If you want to get your money’s worth, though, think about why you want to [get your chart done]. Suppose for the moment that I could answer all your questions correctly and you’re going to spend all this time with me, what are your questions? What do you want to know? Then [if] they sleep on it and decide what their burning questions are, then they will really get something out of it.”

About Alan Annand

Alan Annand lives in Toronto, reading palms and Vedic charts for clients, teaching classes on palmistry and Vedic astrology, speaking at conferences and writing novels and articles. Annand has two websites:

Navamsa focuses on his client services and related blog. For interest, he has done chart anlayses on his website for such famous personalities as Charlie Sheen (before his firing from Two and a Half Men), Osama bin Laden (after his death) and Prince William (providing a prognosis on his recent marriage).

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